PEATLAND MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

The ultimate goal of the sustainable development goals is to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Hence, managing peatlands should also comply with the goals. However, managing peatlands to provide livelihoods for local communities as well as to conduct intensive agriculture and forestry may contradict with the protection of the environment. The options are whether peatlands should be drained or to be sustainably managed.

MANAGING PEATLANDS, TO COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE: INDONESIA’S EXPERIENCES

Indonesia has over 15 million ha of peatlands, which is over 12% of its forest land spreading across islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua. This is the largest tropical peat land in the world, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, with the peatland area reaches 9 million ha, and the Republic of Congo with the area reaches about 5.5 million ha (Miles et al., 2017).

Peatland can be defined as soil formed from the accumulation of organic matters such as the remnants of plant tissue that lasted for a long time (Kelompok Kerja Pengelolaan Lahan Gambut Nasional, 2006). According to Government Regulation (GR) No. 71 of 2014 that has been amended by GR No. 57 of 2016 on the Protection and Management of Peat Ecosystem, peatland is defined as a naturally occurring organic material of plant residues that decomposes imperfectly and accumulates in swamps. Furthermore, the regulation also defines peat ecosystem as the order of peatland components that forms an integrated system affecting one another and forming a balance, stability, and productivity.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR MANAGING PEATLAND

As indicated in the previous section, Indonesia does not only work by itself to mitigate problems in relation to peat management and peat fires. We also communicate and collaborate with other countries and international agencies to stop peat degradation and prevent peat fires. In the Southeast Asia Region, as the ASEAN member, Indonesia has ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Hazard Pollution (AATHP) through Law No. 26 of 2014 on AATHP Endorsement, dated 14 October 2014. AATHP aims to prevent and control cross-border smoke pollution as a result of land and/or forest fires particularly in peatlands that must be implemented through intensive national, regional and international efforts based on commitment, a spirit of partnership, and a tradition of solidarity to achieve peace, progress and prosperity among ASEAN countries.

INDONESIA’S PEATLAND GOVERNANCE

A huge task. In the past, Indonesia experienced unsustainable peatland management leading to the degradation of peatland and peat fires. Thinking over the negative impacts resulted from peat degradation and fires, the government of Indonesia has prioritized the protection and sustainable management of peatlands, including the restoration of heavily degraded peatlands. Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2015 on the Suspension of New Licenses and the Improvement of Primary Forest and Peatland Governance or commonly referred to as Inpres Moratorium is a monumental decision reflecting the commitment of Indonesian government to reform its peatland and forest management. It has targeted the postponement of formal licenses for companies. The coverage of peatlands and primary forests affected by this policy has been mapped and update every six months. This political will has been supported or followed up by other regulations, including:

PEATLAND MANAGEMENT AND NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION (NDC)

Peatland is a storage of huge amount of carbon. It is estimated that peat can contain about 6 tonnes per hectare of 1 cm depth. Overall, Indonesian peatlands stores about 46 Giga tons, or about 8-14% of the carbon stored in the world peatlands. It is this carbon content that has become source of problems due to its emission when burnt, and at the same time also become a potential solution if well managed, in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In our First National Determined Contribution submitted to the UNFCCC, 17% or over half of the 29% of the emission reduction target, comes from land based sector, which are mainly forest and peatlands.

EARTH’S CLIMATE HISTORY

Climate is not a static set of weather conditions, constant over eons; rather it varies, sometimes in dramatic ways, over time. The hot climate of the newlyformed Earth gave way to glaciers in a little more than a billion years, an immense time by human reckoning, but not nearly so long by geological standards. Earth’s climate has alternated many times between hot and cold periods of varying magnitudes. Radiation from the Sun, the ocean currents, rainfall, wind, continental drift, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, volcanic activity, radioactivity in the Earth’s core, the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit around the sun, the tilt of Earth’s axis, and photosynthesis all affect climate. Climate has not one, but, rather, myriad causes. Disentangling these causes is not easy, but it is necessary to understanding why climate changes over time. The current climate is warming. The culprit, carbon dioxide, has been increasing in the atmosphere, driving up temperature, and prompting speculation over Earth’s future climate.

DAMPAK MERKURI TERHADAP MANUSIA DAN LINGKUNGAN

Sebagian besar merkuri yang terdapat di alam ini dihasilkan oleh sisa industri dalam jumlah ± 10.000 ton setiap tahunnya. Penggunaan merkuri sangat luas di mana ± 3.000 jenis kegunaan dalam industri pengolahan bahan-bahan kimia, proses pembuatan obat-obatan yang digunakan oleh manusia serta sebagai bahan dasar pembuatan insektisida untuk pertanian (Christian et al dalam Alfian, 2006).

Gambar 1. Diagram aliran merkuri di biosfer

ANALISIS DAMPAK METANA BAGI KEHIDUPAN

Metana merupakan gas yang terbentuk oleh adanya ikatan kovalen antara empat atom H dengan satu atom C. Metana merupakan suatu alkana. Alkana secara umum mempunyai sifat sukar bereaksi (memiliki afinitas kecil) sehingga biasa disebut sebagai parafin. Sifat lain dari alkana adalah mudah mengalami reaksi pembakaran sempurna dengan oksigen menghasilkan gas karbon dioksida (CO₂) dan uap air (H₂O) dengan reaksi:

CH_{4 (g}) + O_{2 (g)} à  CO_{2 (g)} + H₂O _(g)

Metana merupakan gas yang tidak berwarna, sehingga tidak bisa dilihat dengan mata telanjang. Tetapi metana dapat diidentifikasi melalui indra penciuman karena baunya yang khas. Sebenarnya gas metana berada di sekitar kita. Beberapa di antaranya akan saya sebutkan di sini.

ZAT-ZAT PENCEMAR UDARA

Udara di alam ini tidak pernah ditemukan dalam keadaan bersih, hal ini terjadi karena kegiatan alam (terjadi secara alami), maupun karena ulah atau kegiatan/aktivitas manusia misalnya gas-gas CO, gas SO2 dan H2S yang dihasilkan melalui kegiatan gunung berapi, terjadinya pelapukan tumbuh-tumbuhan dan kebakaran hutan, yang terus-menerus masuk ke dalam atmosfer (udara). Selain gas-gas tersebut ada pula partikulat-partikulat padat dan cair yang dihasilkan oleh ledakan gunung berapi atau gangguan lain yang dibawa hembusan angin masuk ke dalam atmosfer. Di samping gas-gas dan partikulat-partikulat padat dan cair yang dihasilkan secara alami, masih diperoleh juga gas-gas dan partikulat-partikulat lain yang diperoleh dari hasil kegiatan manusia sebagai hasil proses kimiawi ataupun proses biologis.

EPIDEMI GLOBAL: FLU BURUNG

Flu burung merupakan epidemi global yang terkait dengan pola makan daging. Dengan keadaan peternakan modern zaman sekarang yang sangat kacau dan padat, hewan-hewan dipaksa hidup berdesak-desakan tanpa bisa banyak bergerak, kotoran mereka tersebar dimana-mana. Udara yang bercampur dengan amonia yang berasal dari kotoran menghancurkan paru-paru dan merusak sistem kekebalan tubuh mereka. Tidak mengherankan jika tempat-tempat seperti ini merupakan sumber terciptanya penyakit-penyakit mematikan seperti penyakit kuku dan mulut, sapi gila, dan yang paling berbahaya saat ini: flu burung.